1. All That Jazz
2. The Ballad of Sweeney Todd
3. I've Got Your Number
4. Cool
5. Life Has Been Good to Me
6. Some Other Time
7. Kiko and the Lavender Moon
8. Call Me
9. Philadelphia
10. People Are Strange
11. Been Caught Stealing
12. Just A Girl
13. Black Hole Sun
14. It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That
Swing)
15. Dirty Martini Recipe

Vocalist
Lea DeLaria seemed to burst upon our consciousness
suddenly about six years ago, but she has
actually been performing as an entertainer
for 25 years. The word "entertainer"
is significant, as she is an all-rounder who
has appeared as an actor, stand-up comedian
and Broadway singer as well as performing
in films and on TV. Only in recent years has
she added "jazz vocalist" to her
cv, so perhaps it’s a bit early for a "Very
Best of" album. This collection consists
of items from her two Warner Brothers CDs,
as well as three previously unreleased tracks
and Dirty Martini Recipe which had
only appeared on the compilation Music
for a Bachelorette’s Pad.

Lea’s
Broadway connections are evident in this collection,
with five of the first six tracks being show
tunes rather than jazz standards. Yet Lea
delivers these songs with a jazz sensibility
at the same time as projecting them with the
assured extroversion of a stage performer.
The Ballad of Sweeney Todd has an easy
swing, while Gil Goldstein’s arrangement of
I’ve Got Your Number adds a jazzy horn
section, with a fine solo from tenorist Seamus
Blake. Incidentally, Seamus also adds immeasurably
to the effectiveness of People Are Strange
and Been Caught Stealing. The leisurely
version of Cool (from West Side
Story) includes some interesting interplay
from the rhythm section of Brad Mehldau, Larry
Grenadier and Greg Hutchinson, and DeLaria’s
vocal is thoughtfully paced.

With
such a variety of experience, Lea’s range
is understandably broad, embracing Randy Newman
(Life Has Been Good To Me), Neil Young
(Philadelphia) and the Doors (People
Are Strange) as well as Duke Ellington
(It Don’t Mean a Thing). Her range
of styles is equally impressive. Some Other
Time finds her in Julie London torch-song
territory, while Been Caught Stealing
is funky jazz-fusion and Kiko and the Lavender
Moon is Latin-American exotica (with atmospheric
marimba from Stefon Harris).

It
Don’t Mean a Thing sounds grittier than
the rest of the album, probably because it
was recorded in the UK (judging from the British
personnel). It is followed by Dirty Martini
Recipe, a strange ironical monologue which
is unlikely to repay repeated hearings. Apart
from this expendable final track, the CD is
a good showcase for the versatile talents
of Lea DeLaria.